Rocktober, It Could Happen

by John on October 1, 2007

So said a banner at Coors Field yesterday. Well, it did happen. At least for a day, anyway. The Colorado Rockies improbable run to a postseason playoff berth is now but one victory away after a nail-biting 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday afternoon. The Rox won 11 in a row and 13 out of their last 14 to tie the San Diego Padres on the final day of the season, one of the greatest stretch drives in baseball history. Special kudos also are due the Milwaukee Brewers, who, with nothing on the line, played like it mattered in taking two out of three from the Padres over the weekend to aid the Rockies’ cause. Tonight Colorado hosts the Padres in a one-game tiebreaker for the National League wild-card slot. Josh Fogg (10-9) versus Jake Peavy (19-6), the Padres’ Cy Young front runner. Eighteen games ago, I predicted the Rox needed to finish 12-6 to have a chance at postseason play. They did better, try 14-4. But that was just enough to get a sniff. Win tonight, though, and look out. The Rockies are playing with a care-free confidence that defies reason. Only the Philadelphia Phillies can match Colorado’s offense among the N.L. contenders. And with the emergence of young pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales, the aforementioned Fogg and staff ace Jeff Francis, the Rockies have a solid four-man rotation. Colorado’s bullpen is lights out, too. Get in, and anything can happen. It would take 12 wins for the Rockies to win the World Series. Seems like they just did that, plus one. “We have our own opportunity. It’s all up to us now,” said Rockies slugger Matt Holliday. “We don’t have to worry about any other people helping us out anymore.”